Seung-Do An

Speckle suppression in laser display using several partially coherent beams.

An optical scheme for speckle suppression using two or three partially coherent beams in a projection system is proposed. Diffractive optical elements (DOE) placed in the intermediate image plane create several beams carrying the image to a screen. Transparent plates of different thicknesses are placed in the Fourier plane of the projective lens and used for beam decorrelation. The coherence matrix algorithm for speckle suppression is used to calculate the speckle contrast ratio. It is shown that for a small decorrelation length and using the same maximum thickness of the transparent plates, two partially coherent beams would provide better suppression than three beams with different diffraction orders. However, for a large decorrelation length, the three beam setup provides better speckle suppression for all three colors examined with a suppression coefficient close to theoretical limits. Verification of speckle suppression using three-beam decorrelation is reported.

Speckle suppression in scanning laser displays: aberration and defocusing of the projection system.

Aberration and defocusing effects in the mechanism of speckle suppression in laser projection displays were studied using the Fresnel approximation and the thin lens model. The analysis was performed with the assumption that aberrations change only the phase (and not the amplitude) in the rear principal plane of the display projection system. The analysis showed that aberrations should not have any influence on speckle contrast. It also showed that a screen shift relative to the image plane (defocusing) results only in a rescaling of the scanning beam autocorrelation function, which is equivalent to refocusing the objective lens to a new position of the screen. The optimal beam shape for optimal speckle suppression was also studied. A homogeneous field intensity distribution in the spatial frequency domain was found to provide close to the best speckle suppression.

Spatial optical modulator (SOM): high-density diffractive laser projection display

A new type of diffractive spatial optical modulators, named SOM, has been developed by Samsung Electro-Mechanics for laser projection display. It exhibit inherent advantages of fast response time and high-performance light modulation, suitable for high quality embedded laser projection displays. The calculated efficiency and contrast ratio are 75 % and 800:1 respectively in case of 0th order, 67 % and 1000:1 respectively in case of ±1st order. The response time is as fast as 0.7 &mgr;s. Also we get the displacement of 400 nm enough to display full color with single panel in VGA format, as being 10 V driven. Optical module with VGA was successfully demonstrated for its potential applications in mobile laser projection display such as cellular phone, digital still camera and note PC product. Electrical power consumption is less than 2 W, volume is less than 13 cc. Brightness is enough to watch TV and movie in the open air, being variable up to 6 lm. Even if its optimal diagonal image size is 10 inch, image quality does not deteriorate in the range of 5 to 50 inch because of the merit of focus-free. Due to 100 % fill factor, the image is seamless so as to be unpleasant to see the every pixels partition. High speed of response time can make full color display with 24-bit gray scale and cause no scan line artifact, better than any other devices.

A novel diffractive micro-optical modulator for mobile display applications

A diffractive optical modulator has been fabricated based on a micromachining process. Novel properties of its fast response time and dynamics were fully understood and demonstrated for the strong potentials in embedded mobile laser display. Bridged thin film piezo-actuators with so called open mirror diffraction structure has been designed. Optical level package also was achieved to successfully prove its display application qualities. Display circuits and driving logic were developed to finally confirm the single-panel laser display at a 240Hz VGA (640×480). With its efficiency of more than 75% and 13cc volume optical engine with the MEMS-based VGA resolution SOM showed 7 lm brightness at a 1.5W electrical power consumption. Detailed design principle, fabrication, packaging and performances of the invented SOM are described.

A study of image contrast restriction in displays using diffractive spatial light modulators

The peculiarities of 1D projection displays using spatial light modulators (SLM1) are considered. The conditions for high contrast images in SLM are investigated. It is shown that an amplitude imbalance between the light reflected from the passive and active parts of SLM gratings imposes a limitation on the achievable contrast ratio. This imbalance may come from errors in SLM structure sizes and from diffraction effects inside SLM layers. The key point is the relationship between ridge and hole sizes in SLM diffraction structures. It is shown that odd diffraction orders (especially 1st order) have a significantly decreased sensitivity to ridge/hole tolerances. This phenomenon affects the SLM’s contrast ratio. The optimal ridge/hole ratio for different SLM diffraction orders has been found. To test the theory, experimental samples were manufactured and contrast ratio measurements were carried out. The experimental data are in good agreement with the theoretical results.

Numerical simulation of characteristics of near-field microstrip probe having pyramidal shape

A pyramid-type microstrip probe (PTMP) with metal tips is proposed for scanning near-field microscopes to obtain high spatial resolution of a few nanometers and high optical efficiency. Properties of an ordinary PTMP and the PTMP with a single metal tip are investigated by using a rigorous finite-integral technique simulation (MICROWAVE STUDIO package) and analyzing characteristics of working modes of the probe. Numerical simulation has demonstrated that an ordinary PTMP and the PTMT with a single metal tip exhibit large far- and near-transmission coefficients, field enhancement, and high spatial resolution. These high parameters imply that both types of microstrip probe may be utilized for optical and magnetic data storage, nanolithography, and other types of nanotechnology that use light for modification of a thin surface layer.

Fine-pitch high-efficiency spatial optical modulator for mobile display applications

Diffractive spatial optical modulators (SOM) employing a fine-pitch pixel array were introduced. The micromechanical designs of the lead zirconate titanate (PZT) actuator and mirror ribbon structure were optimized for a small volume while maintaining the same level of performance. The same design rule and fabrication equipment were used for a new 10-µm-pitch and conventional 16-µm-pitch SOM. The optical efficiency of the new SOM was 78% (zeroth-order diffraction), which is an improvement over that of the 16-µm-pitch SOM (73%). The full on/off contrast ratio showed no differences, and a high displacement of 500 nm was achieved. The stress of the Pt/PZT/Pt actuating layer was the main parameter affecting the initial gap height and displacement of the ribbon. The required ribbon flatness could be achieved by applying a stress gradient on the SiN layer. The temperature-sensitive characteristics, which degrade image quality, could be minimized by a mechanical compensation method that takes advantage of the thermal expansion effect of Si substrates. The estimated lifetime of the device is >4000 h. The developed fine-pitch SOM device has sufficient response time and ribbon displacement to be suitable for high-quality embedded laser-projection displays. The VGA optical module was successfully demonstrated in a mobile laser projection display.

SOM-based projection module for mobile displays

— The development of a compact, efficient VGA projection module to be embedded in mobile devices is reported. The design incorporates laser/laser diode (LD) light sources, Schlieren optics, and a one-dimensional diffractive spatial optical modulator (SOM). During development, the optical parameters were determined and the relationships between the parameters to optimize the optical specifications were derived. The resulting optimized specifications enable us to manufacture two types of optical modu les as compact as 13 cc and with as little as 10% speckle contrast ratio.

Line-defect calibration for line-scanning projection display

A method of line-defect calibration for line-scanning projection display is developed to accomplish acceptable display uniformity. The line scanning display uses a line modulating imaging and scanning device to construct a two-dimensional image. The inherent line-defects in an imaging device and optical lenses are the most fatal performance-degrading factor that should be overcome to reach the basic display uniformity level. Since the human eye recognizes line defects very easily, a method that perfectly removes line defects is required. Most line imaging devices are diffractive optical devices that require a coherent light source. This particular requirement makes the calibration method of sequential single pixel measurement and correction insufficient to take out the line defects distributed on screen due to optical crosstalk. In this report, we present a calibration method using a recursively converging algorithm that successfully transforms the unacceptable line-defected images into a uniform display image.